PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament (MP) of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, posed a number of questions to the Minister of labor, Richard Panneflek, in regards to the number of recent complaints by employees of illegal dismissals taking place by employers. The MP stated in his letter to the minister that “As a result of the challenges we face from COVID-19, the country is now confronted with numerous complaints of labor abuse against employees of a number of companies such as Little Switzerland and the Towers at Mullet Bay, just to…
Author: The Publisher
~ Wants Parliament to summon her in for questioning ~ PHILIPSBURG — Justice chain members of the NAPB, ABVO and WICSU/PSU unions informed union Presidents that they have lost all confidence in Justice Minister Anna Richardson and mandated the unions to do “everything within your power to involve Parliament and relay our position.” The membership gave the unions three days to pen a letter to Parliament with the objective to call the Minister to Parliament for questions “and provide truthful and concrete answers.” The letter, the members said, should mention an ultimate date of one week for Parliament to respond.…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Monday posed several questions concerning the status, current and future outlook of Bureau Telecommunications and Post (BTP) St. Maarten. Speaking during a Central Committee meeting called to discuss the finances of BTP, the MP’s questions were premised on BTP being one of the government-owned companies for which Parliament has very little information, despite years of complaints and issues raised by the public and other parties. The MP asked about a multi-annual plan for BTP that outlines its vision and projected growth and, in the absence of such, how does the company plan…
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: UPDATE: Be the Change Foundation Project Manager Laura Bijnsdorp confirmed that the new owners have agreed to honor the agreement to continue exhibiting the mural and to not paint it over as was initially reported. As a matter of fact, they said the mural is good for business and will bring them lots of foot traffic and they will be looking to add another mural to the building. By Jacqueline Hooftman PHILIPSBURG — Artist Annemiek van Kerkhof-Posthuma’s mural design ‘Run for Freedom’, commissioned as part of a government supported project to beautify Philipsburg with vibrant murals, is…
Government should invest in monuments. It is the perfect investment for Country Sint Maarten. Monuments were back front and center in last week’s Parliament’s meeting when Minister of Culture, Drs. Rodolphe E. Samuel gave a presentation about the state of the recognized monuments on St. Maarten. Investing in the preservation of monuments not only makes sense from a historical and cultural heritage perspective, but it also makes excellent financial and economic sense. When government do purchase these properties and designate them as monuments, they are immediately valuable financial assets of the country. They also have significant economic value. Tour operators…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel said it would be a “crying shame” if government allows the Pasanggrahan Royal Guest House, a recognized monument, to be sold without even an attempt from government to save it. Emmanuel disclosed recently that the property is schedule to be auctioned around the 10th of December 2020, but the initiators of the auctioned is willing to dialogue with government and debtors to arrange a payment plan of sorts if government is willing to initiate the dialogue. The issue is important enough to MP Emmanuel that he even offered to provide the contact information…
By Achken Roberto Richardson Supposing Government wants to preserve building monuments, then the Country should be the owners of these properties, a policy which I can understand and do support, given the culture, Sint Maarten’s families history, the strong historical values as well as the preservation of our historical heritage have as a benefit for our economy. And if Government is not the owner of these real estates in question, then it behooves the Government to purchase or present Purchase Agreements for said properties immediately, conditional to the implementation of any Law/Ordinance or Policy, for properties purchased at market value…
PHILIPSBURG – The creation of a Monument Fund is almost completed, Minister Drs. Rodolphe Samuel (Education, Culture, Youth and Sport) told Parliament members last Thursday during a meeting about the state of the monuments in St. Maarten. According to Minister Samuel, the fund will become an independent organization that will be able to acquire funds from international and kingdom sources. Those funds will be used to help monument-owners with the restoration of their property. The minister said that maintaining monuments is the government’s responsibility if owners are unable to do this. Answering questions from members of parliament, Samuel pointed out…
PHILIPSBURG – Statements by Minister of Justice Anna Richardson about the Ombudsman’s investigation into the country’s parking and towing policy show that “the role of the Ombudsman is misunderstood,” Ombudsman Gwendolien Mossel said during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Friday. During Wednesday’s Council of Ministers press briefing Richardson dismissed the Ombudsman-report as “a blanket statement” and complained that “it is remiss that we did not have an opportunity to work together.” Richardson also criticized a video the Ombudsman posted on Facebook: “It addresses the findings in the report without giving the minister a fair chance to…
PHILIPSBURG — It was long in the making, however, Member of Parliament for the National Alliance (NA), Christophe Emmanuel, finally announced his resignation from the NA party today, Friday, December 4, 2020, declaring himself an Independent member of Parliament. In a subsequent email to the press via his press agent, the NOW Independent Member of Parliament, disseminated of copy of his resignation letter to the leader and board of the National Alliance party. The letter reads as follows: To the leader and board of the National Alliance. When I joined the National Alliance it was premised on a party principle…
